Congressional forum to tackle concussion issue in NCAA, high schools

With the way concussions have begun to be analyzed and scrutinized, an increasing spotlight has been placed not only on pro sports but on collegiate and youth athletics.

Even Congress has gotten involved. The House Judiciary Committee will hold a forum in Houston today to look at how concussions are handled on the NCAA and high school levels. The committee held two previous meetings in Washington focused on the NFL, which has come under fire for the way it has dealt with concussions in the past.

But with about 3.8 million sports-related concussions every year, more must be done to educate parents, coaches and players about the dangers of concussions. Dr. Stanley A. Herring, co-medical director of the Seattle Sports Concussion Program, will be one of four medical experts to speak at the forum, chaired by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.).

"I'm an opportunist," said Herring, who represents the American College of Sports Medicine. "I think these forums are very helpful in opening up peoples' awareness of the subject and having people understand we have been acting to try to make concussion care for youth athletes the best we can."

The issue of concussions has been discussed in the NCAA, which is considering a rule change that would allow football officials to remove players from games if they show signs of a concussion. At the AFCA coaches convention in Orlando in January, Division I-A coaches debated whether there should be a uniform rule in place regarding the length of time a player should be held out of competition.

"If we can come up with a better idea of how to play our game and make it safer, we're going to try to do it," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "That's what we've done through the ages."

The awareness certainly has been raised on the high school level. Olympia football coach Bob Head said, "Back in the day if a kid got his bell rung, we'd tell him to shake it off and get back in there. Now if anybody has a head injury, we send him to the trainer and our team doctor and we let them make the call. Coaches no longer make that decision anymore. It's so dangerous, we just want to be safe."

A national movement to legislate the way youth athletes and doctors approach dealing with concussions also has caught on.

Gov. Charlie Crist will announce plans Wednesday during Super Bowl week in Miami for a national initiative to have all 50 states model concussion legislation after the Zackery Lystedt Law in Washington. That law was named after Lystedt, who suffered a debilitating brain injury in 2006 at the age of 13 after returning to play too quickly following a concussion.

That law is the first of its kind and was passed in 2009. It requires educating young athletes, parents and coaches about the risks associated with concussions, removing athletes from play if a concussion is suspected and requiring medical clearance by a licensed healthcare provider before returning to practice or a game.

Oregon passed a similar measure, and several other states, including California and Pennsylvania, have similar bills pending. No legislation on concussions has been introduced in Florida. The Florida High School Athletic Association tells its trainers to follow guidelines in the sports medicine handbook of the National Federation of State High School Associations.

The national initiative, known as the Zackery Lystedt Project, is spearheaded by the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation in partnership with the American College of Sports Medicine.

Herring, who was involved in Lystedt's care, stresses the concussion issue affects all young athletes, not just football players. But any focus on concussions helps.

"I think any time there's an issue in professional sports, it raises everyone's awareness," he said. "What we're proposing for youth and adolescent athletes -- it's not new news. We welcome any opportunity to advocate for these young athletes."